MILAN — If the Team Canada brass thought Jordan Binnington’s performance at the 4 Nations Face-Off would quiet the noise around their goaltending situation, they couldn’t have been more wrong.

Goaltending is still the biggest question mark around the national team that once went from Patrick Roy to Martin Brodeur to Roberto Luongo in nets, and Team Canada is steadfastly refusing to name a starter from its trio of Binnington, Logan Thompson and Darcy Kuemper.

“I’m not announcing that here with you guys,” coach Jon Cooper said following practice Wednesday, when the three goalies seemed to rotate throughout. “Love you all, but that’s not happening. [The players will] know tonight.”

One tidbit Cooper did offer: “There’s a really good chance” that Canada will start two different goalies in its first two games. The Canadians open Thursday against Czechia before facing Switzerland the next day.

Team Canada is not the only ones treating the decision on goaltending like a state secret. Team USA coach Mike Sullivan is planning to announce who he’ll start before the Americans open play against Latvia on Thursday, but not until that morning.

For the Americans, though, the starter looks a little more clear-cut. Connor Hellebuyck was the only goaltender to stay in one net throughout Wednesday’s practice and last year’s Vezina and Hart Trophy winner who backstopped the United States at 4 Nations would not exactly qualify as a controversial pick.

As for Canada, the conversation comes down to how much Cooper and Co. are weighing Binnington’s history of clutch performances — in the 4 Nations final and Game 7 of the 2019 Stanley Cup Final, for a start — against his terrible .864 save percentage with the Blues this season.

“He proved everything I felt about him,” Cooper said of Binnington’s performance in 4 Nations. “On the biggest stage, at the biggest moment, at the biggest time, he delivered. And I’ve seen that before. There’s just some guys that got that it factor and he delivered when we needed him most.”

Thompson, who didn’t make the 4 Nations squad after being traded from assistant coach Bruce Cassidy’s Golden Knights to the Capitals, is having the best season right now of the three, with a .912 save percentage in Washington. Kuemper, a Stanley Cup champion with the 2022 Avalanche, is sitting at .900 with the Kings.

The way Canada is talking, though, it would be no surprise if Binnington leads them out for warmups Thursday.

“I just go back to January last year,” said Canada general manager Doug Armstrong, who holds the same title in St. Louis. “Hearing the same things and saw how that turned out. So it made me quite comfortable.”

Two goals from Juraj Slafkovský and a 38-save performance from goaltender Samuel Hlavaj carried Slovakia to a stunning 4-1 win over Finland to open the Olympics.

A heavily Slovak crowd jumped, sang and cheered their way through a three-goal third period as their team — outshot 39-21 on the night — pulled away from Finland in a statement upset.

“I think this was probably the toughest and best game of my life so far,” said Hlavaj, an AHL goaltender for the Iowa Wild.

The loss won’t end Finland’s tournament early — every team makes the knockout stage — but it almost certainly eliminates their margin for error as far as topping Group B.

“Obviously it wasn’t the start we wanted,” Mikael Granlund said. “But now we have another chance Friday against Sweden. We all know the most important games are ahead of us. No panic.”

William Nylander played in Sweden’s opener and scored after missing practice Tuesday due to maintenance.

Brady Tkachuk was asked about the White House X account posting a clip of him doing an interview.

“It just shows, I guess, that people support you,” he said. “For us it’s not just playing for the guys in this room. It’s playing for everybody in our country. The first responders, everybody who serves and protects us, keeps people safe. It’s truly bigger than ourselves. We’re playing for the flag.”

Team USA did not appear to change its forward lines or defense pairings at Wednesday’s practice.

Quinn Hughes, Jack Eichel, Matthew Tkachuk, Auston Matthews and Tage Thompson were on the top power-play unit. Zach Werenski, Kyle Connor, Matt Boldy, Jake Guentzel and Brady Tkachuk were on the second unit, though Jack Hughes appeared to rotate in at one point.

Team USA got the chance to meet Snoop Dogg on Tuesday.

“Probably one of the few people I’ve met that’s kind of larger than life,” Dylan Larkin said. “Like you look at him, he doesn’t even look real. It was an awesome experience, got to talk to him, and then there’s cameras around, and he can just turn it on, and be in entertainer mode right away.”

Canada GM Doug Armstrong revealed Wednesday that assistant coach Pete DeBoer arrived in Milan a week early to get the lay of the land for his team.

He explored the train and the Metro. He went to the Olympic Village and the NHL Players Association-provided hotel.

“So when everyone got here, he had a wealth of information that he could share that just helped us along,” Armstrong said.

In actuality, DeBoer ventured out to Milan as early as October. Nothing was built yet, he said, noting that the practice rink he was standing in was a patch of dirt.

“I got lost a few times,” he said.

Much has been made of Canada’s decision not to stay in the Olympic Village, where many other teams — like the United States, Sweden and Finland — have committed to sleeping for the tournament.

Armstrong believes it’s been blown out of proportion.

“The players have always had a hotel room in all of the Olympics prior to this, in Vancouver and Sochi,” he said. “They’ve stayed with their families. They have a room in the village, they have a room provided by the NHL and NHLPA outside there. And so I think this has sort of grown a life of its own. This is no different than the tournaments we had before. We just wanted to give our players that option to stay where they’re most comfortable to prepare for the games.”